Hey folks!

I have a WD easystore 14 TB External HDD connected to my Plex server (running on windows 11).

I am using about 4 TB of it, but not for anything truly important. It’s storing plex media mostly.

I’d like to use it for storing memories. But how do I trust it?

What are good tools for me to keep a check on the drive so that I can hopefully get enough warning when it starts losing sectors?

I have some tool installed based on recommendations online and I started a “surface test” of the disk and it said it’ll take a measly 300 hours. Not ideal.

    • Pons_Aelius@kbin.social
      21·
      11 months ago

      Simply put.

      3 copies of anything critical.

      2 types of media

      This is more difficult for non business as non HDD storage is expensive but one cloud backup can work instead.

      1 copy stored off site.

      Having three copies at home is not much help if your house burns down etc.

        • Dave@lemmy.nzEnglish
          62·
          11 months ago

          One thing it doesn’t mention is that a sync is not a backup. If deleting a file in one copy of the data triggers a delete in another copy, then it doesn’t count as a copy.

          • Romkslrqusz@lemm.eeEnglish
            2·
            11 months ago

            The right sync is actually an excellent backup, and compliments other methods (like local storage) quite nicely.

            Any worthwhile sync will delete to a recycle bin and support versioning of files. A bad actor would have to have account level access to dump the recycle bin, which proper use of MFA can limit in the majority of cases.

            A sync will also make it easier to propagate files to an offsite copy, as you can have a connected device in a separate location.

            One of the most important aspects in backups is convenience. Anything that is a task or chore risks getting put off - I see it all the time.